Chef's Spotlight: Executive Chef EFRAIM NAHON of Bustan on the Upper West Side

This week, Executive Chef Efraim Nahon, of Bustan on the Upper West Side of New York City is in our "Chef's Spotlight."

An Israeli native, Efraim (Efi) Nahon discovered he loved the professional kitchen environment when as a teenager he took a job dishwashing job in a restaurant. When he was recruited to fill-in with prep or to work on the line, he realized his affinity for cooking. Consequently, he enrolled in Tel-Aviv's Tadmor Culinary Institute. After graduating in 1995, Nahon began his career as a line cook at Hataboon, a seaside Mediterranean tavern in the ancient Israeli port of Jaffa.

Having worked his way up to sous chef at Hataboon, Nahon set off for France in 1998 for a hands-on education in French cuisine at the three Michlin-starred L'Esperance, A year later, he returned to Israel to work at the country's top-rated restaurant, Keren, under Haim Cohen.

When Haim closed Keren, Nahon went with him to Greece to open Oceana at Club Hotel Lutraki, then Europe's largest casino. And then when Haim and his partners decided to test New York City's culinary waters, Nahon became the founding executive chef for Taboon. It opened in 2002, earning two stars from the New York Times, New York Magazine's designation as one of New York City's Best 101 restaurants and a score of 25 for food from Zagat. .

In 2008, Nahon took over the kitchen at Barbounia, another higly rated Mediterranean restaurant where taboon cooking figured prominently. In the spring of 2013, Nahon left Barbounia to work on realizing a vision of Bustan as a contemporary pan-Mediterranean restaurant. Bustan opened in late February 2014.

Broadwayworld.com interviewed Executive Chef Efraim Nahon about his career and Bustan.

What was your earliest interest in cooking

As I child I spent a lot of time in the kitchen with my mother and grandmother, watching them cook and as I got older helping. Which didn't make my father happy - a Moroccan, he considered cooking to be exclusively women's work!

Who were some of your career mentors?

Certainly not my father when I first started expressing interest in cooking as a career. My most important mentor is Haim Cohen, Israel's first celebrity chef. When I worked with him at Kerem in Tel Aviv, the restaurant was considered the best in the country. I went with him to Greece and I came to New York City to open Taboon in 2002 because he was one of the owners. Also Marc Meneau, the French Michelin-starred chef / owner of L'Esperance. I spent a year with him there learning French techniques.

What culinary styles have influenced your career?

The food of the entire Mediterranean region, particularly French, Greek, Turkish, Italian and Moroccan. And, of course, the technique of working with a taboon, the traditional Middle Eastern wood-fired, dome-shaped oven we use at Bustan. Some element of almost every dish on the menu is cooked in it.

What do you consider the most distinguishing features of your work as a chef?

I combine the ingredients and flavors of several different countries; you could say I take a multi-cultural approach, drawing from the whole of the Mediterranean. I guess I'm a chef without borders, at least where that part of the world is concerned!

What is your favorite meal?

It depends on my mood - I like so many different kinds of food, from haute French to ethnic street foods. I do miss my mother's home cooked comfort food, which was primarily Moroccan - although she was Russian - to please my father.

Tell me a little bit about your restaurant for our readers.

Bustan is a contemporary pan-Mediterranean restaurant, where we showcase the culinary diversity of the region, along with the warm hospitality that is so much a part of the culture of Israel, where my partners - Tuvia Feldman and Guy Goldstein - and I are from. As I mentioned, our taboon is a very important part of what makes Bustan (which mean garden in Arabic, ancient Hebrew and Aramaic) Bustan. It gives a distinctive somewhat smoky flavor and char to Bustan's food, which is one of the things that makes Bustan different from so many other Mediterranean foods. That and the multi-cultural character of the dishes we serve for lunch, brunch and dinner.

Bustan is located at 487 Amsterdam Avenue (between 83rd and 84th Streets). For reservations and information, call (212) 595-5050 or visit their web site at www.bustannyc.com.

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